A Hard Lesson
by Scribe Teradia
Summary: Theo talks Hermione into a 'role-playing' session in the Potions classroom. Sequel to The Nature of the Beast. Rated for language and smut, as per usual.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own J.K. Rowling's universe, I just like to have fun with her characters on occasion.

**Author's Note:** This was suggested to me by the same friend who provided the inspiration for Riding Lessons, and SeraphimeRising suggested the title after an initial read-through. Takes place after The Nature of the Beast. Love it? Hate it? Review and tell me why!!

**A Hard Lesson**  
by Scribe Teradia

Swathed in the folds of Harry's invisibility cloak, Hermione crept down the stairs leading to the dungeons. More specifically, her destination was the Potions classroom, although she never would have agreed to this if Professor Snape were still the school's Potions Master. There were limits to how far she was willing to go for an illicit midnight tryst, and crossing Snape in any way, shape or form was well beyond those limits. Professor Slughorn, on the other hand, would be drinking in Hogsmeade for at least another three hours before finally stumbling back to his chambers, and it would be Monday before he'd so much as set foot in his classroom, which meant that her rendezvous with Theo should go precisely as planned.

The door creaked as she pushed it open, and she held her breath, waiting for a sign from Theo, but the room was dark, and she couldn't tell if he was already there. She stepped inside, still huddled in the invisibility cloak, and shivered from the chill in the air; the dungeons had always seemed dank and cold to her, and it was worse at night.

Without warning, the door slammed shut with a bang, and Hermione let out a squeak, then immediately cursed herself for having made a noise when she was supposed to be stealthy. Light flared, so brilliantly that she had spots in her vision for several moments afterward, and then she caught sight of the tall dark figure in the corner and had to bite her lip to keep from letting out another shocked squeak.

"I know you're here, Granger." Theo. She'd know his voice anywhere, and it settled the panic, allowed her to process that despite the cut of the robes he was wearing it was Theo in the corner and not the former Potions Master. "Come out, come out, my little Gryffindor delinquent."

When he'd first introduced the concept of 'role-playing', she'd resisted the idea, but now that she was here she regretted not giving in to him sooner. She had no idea where he'd gotten the robes, but he was dressed exactly the same as his Head of House, though she had a suspicion that his garments were of better fabric than Snape's; they certainly fit him better. She let the cloak slide to the floor, her expression appropriately meek, eyes downcast as she licked her lips. "I'm here, sir."

His blue eyes flashed with a look that she'd come to associate with Theo and sex, and her cheeks flushed as his gaze raked over her; she'd had a little help from Ginny in altering the uniform, shortening the skirt and blouse until they were barely decent, clinging to her body in a way that she'd never let anyone other than Theo see. He folded his arms and sneered in a very Snape-like gesture, and she pressed her thighs together in a vain attempt to keep the moisture pooling between her legs from running down them, since she'd left her knickers up in her dorm room. Again. "Well, well, Gryffindor's swotty little know-it-all is out after curfew." His voice made her quiver with anticipation, knowing he had something new up his sleeve. "Whatever will the Headmaster say when he discovers one of his favorite students has been breaking the rules?"

Hermione widened her eyes, shaking her head like an intimidated firstie. "Please don't tell him, sir. I'll do anything..."

"Anything?" He licked his lips, his eyes locked on hers as she nodded. "Then you agree that you need to be punished?"

This time when her eyes widened it wasn't feigned. "Y-yes, sir." She shivered at his expression, the hungry look in his blue eyes, knowing she was in over her head but entirely too deep to really care.

"Come here." The command rang through the room, and as she walked toward him she noticed for the first time that the cauldron on the table behind him wasn't empty like most of the others. He waited until she was within reach before halting her, his hand touching the center of her chest briefly. "Good girl. If you cooperate, I'll see to it that your punishment isn't _too_ severe." He smirked at her and reached back to pick up a vial of potion, which he held up before her. "Drink this."

"What is it?" she asked, even as her fingers closed around the vial. Belatedly, she remembered to add, "Sir."

"A very rare, very difficult potion," he replied, watching her. "It heightens the senses, temporarily, particularly the sense of touch."

She uncapped the vial and tilted her head back to drink it, making a face afterward. "Tastes vile," she observed, setting the empty vial aside.

"I have something you might like the taste of better." He gestured toward his trousers, and she could see that he was already hard, straining against the confining layers of fabric.

"It looks like you have a bit of a problem, Professor," she said, sweetly, stepping closer and running her hand over him, with just enough pressure to make him growl. "Should I help with that?"

"By all means," he replied, and her hands scrabbled at the button and zipper of his trousers before finally pushing them downward. Apparently she hadn't been the only one in a hurry when getting ready for the evening, because the only thing beneath the trousers was Theo, and she wrapped a hand around him even as she dropped to her knees.

Initially, the art of fellatio had proved difficult for Hermione, especially since there was only so much one could glean from a book and everything she'd read and memorized seemed to disappear every time she was in Theo's presence. The nuances of sex were subtle and not easily mastered, and she'd finally gone to Ginny, swearing to keep secret the extent of the other girl's knowledge and experience in exchange for a few pointers. She was still learning to read Theo, though she knew him better after two months of secret trysts than she had before he'd first approached her. When his hands fisted in her hair, his hips jerking as he pulled her closer, she smiled around him and hummed, and was rewarded with a low groan (Theo rarely made noise unless it had been calculated and re-calculated fifty times beforehand, so this was counted as a victory in her favor). He leaned back against the table for support, his eyes closing as she picked up speed, feeling him tense up beneath her hands and in her mouth; swallowing afterward had always been the hardest part, but tonight she managed better than ever, and she finally sat back on her heels, looking up at him expectantly. "Am I still to be punished, Professor?" she whispered, watching as he regained control of himself.

Theo cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair, and then he tugged the lapel on his robe straight, which was almost ridiculous since he was naked from the waist down. "Indeed, Miss Granger. Can't have students out of bed after curfew, after all. Bad precedent." He crooked a finger at her and issued a command, "Up."

Hermione stood, suddenly keenly aware of how very short her skirt was, how tight her blouse hugged her torso as his fingers pulled her tie loose and tossed it aside. He tugged at the blouse until the buttons popped, exposing her chest to the chilly air of the classroom, and then bent his head to nip at the side of her neck as his hands explored the bare skin of her chest. Her head fell back as she moaned, and she wondered dimly if he'd remembered to soundproof the door, then decided she didn't care as his mouth moved lower, capturing the hardened peak of her breast; one of his hands remained on her other breast, stimulating her other nipple, the other trailed lower to discover that she hadn't bothered with knickers. The contact sent a jolt through her, and she wobbled precariously as her knees threatened to buckle.

Before she had time to recover, he'd pulled his mouth away and turned her around, one hand fisting in her hair as he bent her over the nearest potions table, which had fortunately been cleared of potion-making items. The table's surface was chilly beneath her heated skin, and she hissed with the discomfort of it before she felt his hand flipping up the back of her skirt, then running over her backside. She tried to brace herself, holding her breath, but it still stung when his hand smacked her arse, the sound of it echoing through the room, and she whimpered. He murmured something that she was sure was meant to be reassuring, caressing her briefly before delivering another sharp smack, and she clutched at the table for support.

There was another reprieve, and she shivered as the tip of his wand traced the tops of her arms, soundlessly summoning ropes to bind her hands to the table before he let go of her hair. "You've been a naughty girl, Miss Granger," he purred, his hand connecting again with her backside. "If one didn't know better, one would think you were enjoying being punished." She couldn't see him, but she could sense his presence behind her, the potion giving her a heightened awareness of the room, and she gasped as one hand slid between her thighs to explore the wetness there, backing up his words. When he spanked her again, he fingers did something that turned the pain to pleasure, and she pulled against the ropes and moaned.

He leaned over her, the heat from his groin pressed against her hip, and she whimpered again as his wand ran down her back, the precisely-cast severing charm neatly parting her blouse down the middle, and he shoved it aside and nipped at her shoulderblade, his fingers moving almost torturously slowly between her legs. "Do I need to punish you more, Miss Granger? Or have you learned your lesson?"

"Please," she panted, straining against the bindings that kept her turned away from him.

"Please what, Miss Granger?" She could hear the smile in his voice, knew he was enjoying drawing out her torment.

"Fuck me," she whispered, her face heating at the vulgar words as it always did when he reduced her to begging. "Please, sir, Professor, _Theo_. I need you."

His fingers held her open, parted and ready as he slid himself inside her with a groan, and she knew she would put up with anything so long as the end result was the blissful feeling of him filling her. The angle was different, with him behind her, and he kept his hand in place, pinching and rubbing the overly sensitized skin as his hips slammed into her, hard enough that she knew she'd have trouble walking when they were finished. He spanked her again, and this time she barely felt the sting, only the rising crest of her orgasm, and she shuddered and spasmed well before he did, her voice raw from her very vocal appreciation of his talents as she cried out his name.

The second wave of pleasure came as a surprise, and this time he groaned with her, bowing over her body and pressing her against the table until his hips finally came to a halt. He withdrew and released the ropes, turning her over and laying her properly atop the table, then kissing the reddened skin of her wrists, murmuring over each of her hurts and rubbing a balm into the worst of the bruises. It was a balm to her heart, as well, and as much as she hated herself for it she couldn't help but love him, even though she'd suspected from the beginning that his courtship of her was a game. Theo had his moments of cruelty, to be sure, and she expected those - his father, after all, was a known Death Eater. It was his kindnesses that were most dangerous, because they were genuine, on the rare occasions they happened, and it was this aspect of his personality that she'd fallen for; she put up with the rest for the treasured glimpse of what she considered the 'real' Theo.

By the time he'd finished with the last of the bruises, he was worked up all over again, and he pulled off the rest of his clothes, then hers, before exploring her body all over again with his mouth and hands, the lingering effects of the potion still in her system making every lick and nibble and stroke an almost unbearable pleasure. He climbed atop the table with her and kissed her deeply as he entered her again, making love to her so tenderly that for the span of time it took for them to find release in each other she could almost believe that he loved her the way she loved him. In the afterglow, she spun a fantasy in her mind that they would leave Hogwarts and finally be able to declare themselves, but then reality set in when she caught sight of her discarded watch.

They dressed in silence, out of habit, never talking about anything of importance when they were together like this. He pulled her to him and kissed her again before bundling her up in Harry's cloak, sending her on her way and staying behind to make sure the room was set to rights. With Harry or Ron she'd have protested and insisted on helping, but she'd learned that Theo didn't appreciate her sort of 'assistance', and he'd proven to be even more obsessively thorough than she was, which was saying a lot. Leaving the Potions classroom behind her, she made her way up to Gryffindor tower and crawled into her bed, but sleep was a long time in coming, as her thoughts were with the Slytherin she'd left behind.

**The End**


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